Saved 300 billion won on a 10-year basis

Problem

On my first day as Vice President for Planning, SNU faced the first tax audit in its history. The tax issues latent since incorporation had all become real at once. Our own simulation projected more than ₩23B in taxes on the Siheung campus alone, and for SNU as a whole, a tax bill each year that the university could not bear.

Process

I concluded that amending the tax law was the only fundamental way to solve this problem. To push the amendment work through quietly and low-key, I formed a lean five-member task force with myself as Vice President for Planning, the office's two deputy vice presidents, and the heads of external relations and legal affairs, and I led it as team leader. Everyone said it was impossible to change the tax law for SNU, but we visited the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Assembly, and the Blue House, persuading about 120 people to the very end.

Everyone thought it was impossible, but it came from holding on with our backs to the wall.

Result

After eleven months of concentrated effort, the tax law was amended, and Seoul National University became the first corporation since the founding of the Republic of Korea to obtain full tax-exempt status. Because this changed the system itself rather than granting a one-time relief, tax burdens of more than ₩300B over ten years disappeared. The saved resources return to education and research.